Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 14 Oct 1993

Vol. 434 No. 6

Written Answers. - Blood Testing of Offenders.

Alan Shatter

Question:

51 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice the consideration, if any, she has given to the enactment of legislation to require the perpetrator of an alleged rape to provide a blood sample for testing purposes so as to enable an alleged victim to ascertain the full medical and health risks to her of an alleged rape without undue delay.

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Geoghegan-Quinn)

The Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence) Act, 1990 provides for the taking of bodily samples from persons suspected of serious offences, including rape, for forensic testing for the purpose of the investigation of crime. In the case of a blood sample, the consent of the suspect must be obtained in writing before the sample can be taken under the 1990 Act. While there is no obligation on a suspect to provide a blood sample, the legislation provides that inferences can be drawn from a failure to do so.

To introduce legislation of the kind referred to by the Deputy — which would involve a person on the grounds of suspicion alone being compelled to provide a blood sample — could give rise to serious constitutional difficulties not least in terms of the established right to bodily integrity. In the circumstances I have no proposals at present to introduce legislation in this regard.

I appreciate that the Deputy's concern may range beyond the issue of blood tests for the purpose of establishing criminal guilt (or innocence). There would be the additional and very considerable concern on the victim's part that the perpetrator of the alleged rape, for example, might be suffering from a communicable disease, such as Aids, and that the sexual encounter, therefore, could have serious health consequences for her. This is a much wider issue which goes beyond the criminal law aspects for which my Department has responsibility.